Investment Profit Opportunities in India

By: Tony_Sagami

I write a lot about China, but it isn’t the only country I pay close attention to. Another country that deserves your careful investment attention is India.

First of all, India is Asia’s third-largest economy after Japan and China. And with 1.2 billion citizens, it is the second most-populous country on the planet.

India has weathered the global economic storm better than some of its Asian export-dependent countries, such as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.

How unscathed is India? According to the Central Statistical Organization, the government of India’s official stat keeper, India’s gross domestic product growth accelerated to 6.1 percent in the second quarter.

That’s up from 5.8 percent in the first quarter of this year.

Going forward, the Reserve Bank of India is predicting 6 percent economic growth for 2009 but also says that India could very well surpass that target with an “upward bias.”

I agree. So does Indian Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla who expects GDP to grow by more than 6.5 percent this year.

The financial services sector was India’s fastest-growing sector in the most-recent quarter.

It doesn’t hurt that the Indian government has been aggressively spreading around $100 million of its own stimulus spending.

By the way, $100 million may sound like peanuts compared to the trillions the Obama administration is spending, but it is a huge percentage of India’s total economy.

Where is India growing the most?

 Mining and financial services were the top two sectors, growing by 7.9 percent and 8.1 percent respectively.

 Manufacturing in India rebounded to 3.4 percent.

 Electricity consumption, one of my favorite growth indicators, increased by 6.2 percent.

 Lastly, government spending increased to 9.9 percent of GDP in the latest quarter from 9.6 percent in the same period last year.

Yup, India has a strong economy, but rather than take my word for it, look at what some of the biggest names in transportation are doing.

Volkswagen and Toyota have announced plans to spend more than $6 billion between now and 2012 to build factories in India.

“Our target is to achieve a production of 200,000 units by 2015. With the launch of the compact car by the end of 2010 or beginning 2011, we aim to reach our target,” said a Toyota executive.

Volkswagen expects to sell 2 million cars in India by 2014: “We are looking at a 10 percent increase in sales next year and Volkswagen forecasts 2 million car sales in India by 2014.”

Also, Harley-Davidson is opening dealerships in India this year. “The strong Indian economy, the growing middle class and the tremendous government investment in infrastructure, makes this the perfect time for our entry,” said President Matthew Levatich.

There’s no question India is booming, so the question you should be asking yourself is ‘how’ to add some Indian spice to your investment portfolio.

It is easier to invest in India than you may think. Here are 13 large, blue-chip Indian companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq:

Or if you’re more of an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) investor, you should look at WisdomTree India Earnings (EPI) or PowerShares India (PIN).

EPI’s holdings are based on an earnings-weighted index of 150 companies listed on the Mumbai Stock Exchange that issue common shares that allow foreign ownership.

PIN is made up of 50 of the largest Indian stocks.

As you can see, investing in India is easy. More importantly, investing in India should be a very profitable move.

Regards,

Tony

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